Luggage means with retractable wheels



A. J. D'ETTORRE ETAL LUGGAGE MEANS WITH RETRACTABLE WHEELS Oct. 9, 19622 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 16, 1960 Alfred J DEf/orre Arthur W HeckMil/am H Kauffman Donald L. RanwY/e INVENTORS BY m 1962 A. J. D'ETTORREE'I'AL 3,057,636

LUGGAGE MEANS WITH RETRACTABLE WHEELS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed vAug. 16,1960 Fig m m m% mk m Hww HKR HL 5m mmw AWw INVENTORS BY I its

3,057,636 LUGGAGE MEANS WITH RETRACTABLE WHEELS Alfred J. DEttorre,Arthur W. Heck, and William H. Kantfman, Willard, and Donald L.Ranville, Fairhorn, Ohio, assignors of one-eighth to Bonnie R. DEttorre,one-eighth to Merribei V. Heck, one-eighth to Bettie K. Kaufiman, all ofWillard, Ohio, and one-eighth to Dorothy M. Ranvilie, Fairhorn, OhioFiled Aug. 16, 1960, Ser. No. 49,947 2 Claims. (Cl. 280-37) Thisinvention relates to luggage construction especially designed to enablea traveller to easily maneuver a set of such luggage without assistance.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide luggagefor the traveller which may be easily moved without assistance whenporters or other help are not available or when it is desired to travelin an economical fashion by avoiding payment for service. The luggageconstruction made in accordance with this invention therefore involves astructural departure from previous devices of generally similar purposesthat is not only more economical than such previous devices but is alsoof greater convenience to the traveller.

A further object of this invention in accordance with the foregoingobjects, is to provide a luggage construction involving retractablewheel assemblies for the luggage which avoids the disadvantages ofprevious devices by requiring no disassembly of the wheel assembliesfrom the luggage case for opening thereof, said wheel assemblies beingretractable into the luggage case and flush with the outer surfacethereof without reducing to any significant extent the spatialaccommodation of the luggage case.

A further object of this invention is to provide a set of luggage caseshaving interlocking ridges formed thereon so as to enable the stackingof the plurality of luggage on top of each other in stepped fashion withthe larger and bottom luggage case having the retractable wheelassemblies.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a retractable wheelassembly for a luggage case which is of economical construction, durableand by virtue of its novel arrangement capable of sustaining the forcesand loads imposed thereon without the necessity of additional andexpensive bracing structure.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a bottom luggage case constructionmade in accordance with this invention showing the wheel assemblies intheir extended positions.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of a set of luggage made inaccordance with this invention being maneuvered.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional View showing the interlocking ridges of luggagecases stacked on top of each other.

FIGURE 4 is a partial sectional view of the bottom luggage caseillustrating one wheel assembly thereof in its extended position.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken through a plane indicated by sectionline 5-5 in FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is partial bottom view of the bottom luggage case illustratingone wheel assembly in retracted position.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken through a plane indicated by sectionline 7-7 in FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken through a plane indicated by sectionline 88 in FIGURE 4.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the bottom luggage case made inaccordance with this invention is illustrated in FIGURE 1 and isgenerally designated by reference numeral 10. It will also be observedin FIGURE 1, that the retractable wheel assemblies each generallydesignated by reference numeral 12 are in their extended position andmay be retracted by pivotal movement toward each other within therecesses 14 formed within the bottom side 16 of the bottom luggage casegenerally indicated by reference numeral 18. It will also be observedthat a handle member 20 is attached to the top end of the luggage case18 for the purpose of pulling the luggage case which will be wheeled bymeans of the wheel assemblies 12.

It will be observed in FIGURE 1 that two bands of ridge formations 24and 22 are formed about the luggage case 18 intermediate the endsthereof. The ridge formations 24 and 22 not only are pleasing inappearance for the purpose of making the luggage case 18 attractive butalso serve a useful purpose. It will therefore be observed in FIGURE 2,that luggage cases 26 and 28 are stacked upon the bottom luggage case 18and are retained in said stacked relation by means of ridge formations30 and 32 formed on the luggage 26 and 28 respectively. Referringtherefore to FIGURE 3 in particular it will be observed that the ridgeformations 22 on the luggage 18 interlocks with the ridge formations 30on the luggage 26 in order to prevent displacement of the luggage 26relative to the bottom luggage case 18 in the direction in which thebottom supporting luggage 18 is being pulled by means of its handle 20.The luggage 28 is similarly retained on top of the luggage 26 by meansof its ridge formations 32 which interlock in a similar manner with theridge formations 30. It will also be observed in FIGURE 2, that theluggage cases 26 and 28 are arranged on top of the luggage case 18 in astepped fashion so that the traveller may place his coat, handbag,camera case or other similar items on the back luggage cases while hepulls the luggage by means of the wheeled assemblies 12 mounted on thebottom assembly case 18.

Accordingly, the luggage cases as contemplated by this invention may bemade in graduated sizes with the largest size case of a set having thewheel assemblies 12 mounted thereon. The cases may therefore be made ofa molded material such as fiberglass so that the ridge formations 22 and24 may 'be molded thereon as well as the recesses 14 within which thewheel assemblies 12 are retracted.

Referring therefore to FIGURE 6, it will be observed that the bottomside 16 of the bottom luggage case 18 has the recess 14 molded thereinwithin which recess the wheel assembly 12 is retracted flush with thebottom surface 16. The wheel assembly 12 accordingly includes a wheel 34which is rotatably mounted on a journal pin member 36 which is receivedwithin apertures at the bottom end of a wheel mounting bracket member38. The wheel mounting bracket member 38 is accordingly pivotally moveddegrees outwardly from the recess 14 into its extended position asillustrated in FIGURES 4 and 5 in particular.

It will therefore be observed that the wheel mounting bracket member 38includes a pair of arms 40 and 42 in terconnected within the recess 14by means of a top portion 44. It will therefore be observed from FIGURESl, 5 and 6, that the wheel assemblies 12 are pivotally retractable andextended about axes parallel to the direction in which the bottom case18 is pulled by means of handle 20. Accordingly, the pulling force andhence tractive force applied to the wheel assemblies 12 will be appliedalong the pivot axis about which the wheel assemblies are retractable sothat the aforesaid forces will have no tendency to collapse or retractthe wheel assemblies. It will therefore be appreciated that the wheelassembly 12 despite its small spatial extent and lack of bracing strucoture will adequately sustain the luggage loads in a reliable manner.Furthermore, the relatively flat configuration of the wheel assemblieswill require a relatively shallow depth recess 14 for accommodating thewheel assemblies in their retracted position to thereby avoid anysignificant sacrifice of space within the luggage case itself.

It will however be appreciated that a suitable lock mechanism will berequired in order to hold the wheel assemblies 12 in retracted orextended position. Referring therefore to FIGURES 4 and 5 once again, itwill be observed that the wheel mounting bracket 38 is connected to ashaft assembly generally indicated by reference numeral 46. The shaftassembly 46 includes end portions 48 and 59 of circular cross-sectionwhich are journaled in journal recesses 52 and 54 respectively formedwithin the bottom 16 of the luggage case in communication with therecess 14. The shaft assembly 46 also includes an intermediate portion56 of squared cross-section. The wheel mounting bracket 38 is connectedto the shaft assembly 46 by means of fasteners 58 extending through thearms 42 and 49 of the bracket 38 and the squared portion 56 of the shaftassembly 46. Accordingly, the shaft assembly 46 is rigidly connected tothe wheel mounting bracket 38 and is pivotally movable therewith aboutan axis extending through the end shaft portions 48 and 50 and is alsoslidable therewith within the journal recesses 52 and 54 against thebias of a spring 60 as more clearly seen in FIGURE 4. The squaredportion 56 of the shaft assembly 46 therefore also cooperates with asquared recess portion 62 disposed between the recess 14 and the journalrecess 54 as seen in FIGURE 4. Accordingly, when the shaft assembly 46and the wheel assembly connected thereto is biased toward the extremeright position as illustrated in FIGURE 4, the squared portion 56 of theshaft assembly will be locked to the bottom of the luggage case againstpivotal movement relative thereto. In order to release the shaftassembly 46 and wheel connected thereto from its locked condition asseen in FIG- URE 4, it will be necessary to slidably displace the shaftassembly 46 in an axial direction toward the left as viewed in FIGURE 4or upwardly toward the handle end as viewed in FIGURE 1. The wheelassembly and shaft assembly 46 may then be pivotally moved inasmuch asthe squared portion 56 of the shaft assembly 46 is no longer in thesquared recess 62. The wheel assembly may then be retracted within therecess 14 by being pivotally moved 90 degrees and will subsequently belocked in said retracted position by the bias of the spring 60 returningthe shaft assembly and squared portion 56 into the squared recess 62. Itwill therefore be observed in FIGURE 6, that when the retracted wheelassembly 12 is locked within its retracted position a space is providedto the left thereof in order to permit displacement of the wheelassembly 12 in a leftward direction for releasing the lock mechanism inorder to extend the wheel assembly.

From the foregoing description, operation and use of the luggageconstruction made in accordance with this invention will be apparent. Itwill therefore be appreciated that as a result of the novelconstruction, luggage is provided which is attractive, economical,useful and convenient to an unexpected high degree.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A luggage case construction comprising, rigid luggage case means,handle means mounted on said case means at one end thereof for pullingin one direction, recess means formed within said case means adjacentthe other end thereof, retractable wheel means pivotally mounted withinsaid recess means about an axis parallel to said one direction, lockmeans operatively connected to said wheel means Within said recess meansfor locking said wheel means in either a retracted position Within saidrecess means or in an extended position and releasable in response todisplacement of the wheel means within the recess means toward thehandle means, said wheel means comprising a pair of wheel assembliesmounted on pivot shaft means pivotally mounted within the recess meansfor pivotally retracting each wheel assembly toward each other into saidrecess means flush with a bottom side of the luggage case means, saidlock means comprising journal means slidably receiving said pivot shaftmeans enabling axial displacement thereof toward said handle means asquared section formed on said shaft means, a squared bore portionformed in said journal means for slidably receiving the squared sectionand biasing means engageable with the shaft means for urging the squaredsection into the squared bore portion for locking said shaft meansagainst pivtoal movement relative to the journal means.

2. A luggage case construction comprising, a rigid luggage case means,handle means mounted on said case means at one end thereof for pullingin one direction, recess means formed within said case means adjacentthe other end thereof, retractable wheel means pivotally mounted withinsaid recess means about an axis parellel to said one direction, saidwheel means including a wheel mounting bracket mounting a wheel at oneend thereof, shaft means rigidly connected to said bracket and havingprojecting ends on opposite sides of the bracket adjacent the other endthereof, said shaft means including a noncircular section projectingfrom one side of the bracket, a pair of journal bores formed in the casemeans in communication with the recess means for slidably receiving saidprojecting ends of the shaft means for pivotally mounting the wheelmeans about said axis, spring means mounted on the shaft means andreacting between the recess means and non-circular section for biasingthe bracket toward a locking position in the recess means, one of saidjournal bores having a non-circular portion for slidably receiving theprojecting non-circular section of the shaft means only when the bracketis in a retracted position or an extended position for locking thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,372,845 Nelson Apr. 3, 1945 2,661,220 Davis Dec. 1, 1953 2,849,151Heil Aug. 26, 1958 2,925,283 Stilger Feb. 16, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 998Australia Dec. 16, 1936 620,513 Great Britain Mar. 25, 1949 614,687France Sept. 21, 1926 889,718 France Oct. 11, 1943 1,095,520 France Dec.22, 1954

